Latex or nitrile gloves are mainstays in our fight against the spread of infection and in our promotion of wellness throughout medicine. Their use ranges from the simplest procedures in a wellness checkup to the complexities of the operating room. We have come to rely on the reassuring sound of a glove snapping into place on a health worker's hands before an exam, giving us confidence that both the health worker's and the patient's exposure risks are being reduced.
It was not so terribly long ago in human history that disease and germ theories centered on notions of evil spirits or vapors and bad drains as being the culprits behind illness. But we abandoned those ideas when the world of microorganisms with all their astonishing proliferation was exposed through the microscope's lens. Now our tendency is to respond to these known but invisible invaders with equal irrationality. Eradication is our first impulse instead of living with a wholesome balance.
Of course, it is only natural that one's scalp should crawl when viewing the rapid colonization of certain bacteria under the microscope's magnification. It can be like watching an alien invasion, an idea that has not been overlooked or undercapitalized upon by household cleaning product marketers. Antibacterial compounds are present in everyday products on supermarket shelves, from dish soap to floor cleansers, touting promises of a better, healthier home. Latex gloves and protective masks are found on grocery store end caps and clinicians daily write prescriptions for the "pink stuff", simple antibiotics, for sniffley noses.
Perhaps it should not be too surprising to learn that the scientific world in now warning us that we may have gone too far in our battle against everyday bacteria. The rise in autoimmune disorders may in fact be associated with our over-cleanliness. The hygiene hypothesis, a scientific line of thinking that is gaining lay support, submits that we are compromising our immune systems by not maintaining a bacterial balance that is essential to good health. Some parents are taking this idea to heart and as a result, are removing antibacterial cleansers from the house and encouraging their kids to play in the dirt to strengthen their immune systems.
It is quite likely that even a very rational person's skin will crawl when taking a close look at the lively demonstrations of cutaneous life as in the video entitled Our Skin is a Zoo at www.science.tv. Brace yourself for an edgy presentation about a world you might have preferred to know less!
The narrator's memorable statement that "at any given time there are as many bacteria on our skin as there are people on the earth", is certainly food for thought. But some of us would be mentally and physically healthier if we chose to not give it too much thought. A short case of the heebie-jeebies should at the most make us pay closer attention to washing our hands a little more prodigiously with regular soap and then leave well enough alone.
It was not so terribly long ago in human history that disease and germ theories centered on notions of evil spirits or vapors and bad drains as being the culprits behind illness. But we abandoned those ideas when the world of microorganisms with all their astonishing proliferation was exposed through the microscope's lens. Now our tendency is to respond to these known but invisible invaders with equal irrationality. Eradication is our first impulse instead of living with a wholesome balance.
Of course, it is only natural that one's scalp should crawl when viewing the rapid colonization of certain bacteria under the microscope's magnification. It can be like watching an alien invasion, an idea that has not been overlooked or undercapitalized upon by household cleaning product marketers. Antibacterial compounds are present in everyday products on supermarket shelves, from dish soap to floor cleansers, touting promises of a better, healthier home. Latex gloves and protective masks are found on grocery store end caps and clinicians daily write prescriptions for the "pink stuff", simple antibiotics, for sniffley noses.
Perhaps it should not be too surprising to learn that the scientific world in now warning us that we may have gone too far in our battle against everyday bacteria. The rise in autoimmune disorders may in fact be associated with our over-cleanliness. The hygiene hypothesis, a scientific line of thinking that is gaining lay support, submits that we are compromising our immune systems by not maintaining a bacterial balance that is essential to good health. Some parents are taking this idea to heart and as a result, are removing antibacterial cleansers from the house and encouraging their kids to play in the dirt to strengthen their immune systems.
It is quite likely that even a very rational person's skin will crawl when taking a close look at the lively demonstrations of cutaneous life as in the video entitled Our Skin is a Zoo at www.science.tv. Brace yourself for an edgy presentation about a world you might have preferred to know less!
The narrator's memorable statement that "at any given time there are as many bacteria on our skin as there are people on the earth", is certainly food for thought. But some of us would be mentally and physically healthier if we chose to not give it too much thought. A short case of the heebie-jeebies should at the most make us pay closer attention to washing our hands a little more prodigiously with regular soap and then leave well enough alone.
About the Author:
Our author: Glove industry expert Jen Long is Support Director for a major U.S.-based online retailer that sells Latex and Latex-Free Gloves where she maintains a web knowledgebase for those who need to wear gloves, Depending On Latex and Vinyl Gloves.
0 comments:
Post a Comment